Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Black Beauty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Horse Care, Abuse, and Neglect
Class, Transportation, and Victorian England
Good, Evil, and Power
Dignity and Religion
Summary
Analysis
As time passes, Joe Green learns quickly, and John slowly begins to trust him. Since he’s small, he seldom gets to ride Black Beauty or Ginger—but one day when John is out with Justice, Squire Gordon asks Joe to take Black Beauty and deliver a note for him. Joe delivers the note, and on the way back, they pass the brickfield. A carter there is whipping his pair of horses, but the cart is overloaded and stuck in mud. Joe calls that the cart’s wheels are stuck and the horses aren’t at fault, but the man doesn’t acknowledge him. Joe then offers to help lighten the cart, but the man is clearly angry and drunk. He tells Joe to mind his own business.
Joe does indeed regain John’s trust and good favor, and he seems to be learning a lot. Letting him ride Black Beauty is a sign that Squire Gordon trusts the boy and is willing to let him take a valuable horse out. And on the ride, Joe shows that he’s internalized many of his employer’s and boss’s messages when he asks the carter if he can help. He’s been taught that he should say something if he sees an animal being abused, and he feels confident enough now to do so. This, however, doesn’t mean the carter is going to listen to him.
Themes
Joe gallops Black Beauty to the master brickmaker’s house and tells the man about the carter whipping his horses. The brickmaker thanks Joe for letting him know, and then asks if Joe would be willing to give evidence if this goes before a magistrate. Joe agrees and trots Black Beauty home. There, he tells John what happened. John praises Joe for stepping in; it’s everyone’s business to interfere when they see cruelty happening. Joe seems extremely proud and confident all afternoon.
Joe doesn’t just leave it alone when the carter tells him to go away—he takes it to someone he believes will be able to do something. This again speaks to his confidence, and his belief in standing up for animals’ rights. It no doubt feels wonderful to Joe to get praise from John—it suggests that Joe has turned a corner and is now someone John admires and thinks highly of.
Themes
That evening, a footman takes Joe to Squire Gordon’s house to testify; Squire Gordon is a county magistrate. After a while, Joe returns to the stable happily and says that carter will never mistreat a horse again. Later, Black Beauty learns that the man might get a few months in prison due to how obviously abused the horses were. This experience changes Joe for the better. He’s suddenly determined and purposeful—like he’s suddenly become a man.
Joe’s actions have a happy ending: the horses will presumably be freed from their suffering, and the man won’t be able to hurt other horses. Learning he can make a difference in the world and stand up for other vulnerable beings, the novel suggests, is what brings about Joe’s sudden coming of age.
Themes
